June 12, 2025 • 32 mins
Planning a trip to Wales? In this episode, our local Wales expert Ruthie shares everything you need to know before you visit.
Betty interviews Ruthie about the best experiences to have in Wales, etiquette to follow, where you should stay, how Wales differs from the rest of the UK, and so much more. Wondering how to pronounce Welsh words or how to get around Wales? It’s all in this episode.
Ruthie also shares what she thinks are the biggest mistakes travelers make when they visit.
Have a question about visiting Wales? Drop it in the comments 👇
📰 Articles from Travel Lemming.com
-All Wales guides: https://travellemming.com/wales/
-Where to Stay in Wales: https://travellemming.com/where-to-stay-in-wales/
-Things to Do in Cardiff: https://travellemming.com/things-to-do-in-cardiff/
-Things to Do in Wales: https://travellemming.com/things-to-do-in-wales/
-Places to Visit in Wales: https://travellemming.com/places-to-visit-in-wales/
-Museums in Wales: https://travellemming.com/museums-in-wales/
-Castles in Wales: https://travellemming.com/castles-in-wales/
-Towns in Wales: https://travellemming.com/towns-in-wales/
-When to Visit Wales: https://travellemming.com/best-time-to-visit-wales/
💻 Perspectives from TravelLemming.com
-How to travel the UK like a local: https://travellemming.com/perspectives/travel-like-a-local-in-the-uk/
-Traveling overland in Europe: https://travellemming.com/perspectives/forget-flying-traveling-overland-is-the-best-way-to-see-europe/
-Moving abroad as an au pair: https://travellemming.com/perspectives/i-moved-abroad-as-an-au-pair/
-Traveling as a redhead: https://travellemming.com/perspectives/travelling-as-a-redhead/
#Wales #WalesUK #WalesTravel #TravelTips #TravelPodcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
If you're planning to visit Wales,this is the episode for you.
Here's a 32nd teaser of the episode.
(00:33):
Welcome everybody to theTravel Leming podcast.
I'm your host, Betty Hurd.
This is where we discuss the bestdestinations around the world,
and we teach you what you need toknow before you go and basically
gets you excited to travel.
My guest today is a freelance writerfor travel lemming from Wales.
So welcome to the show, Ruthie Walters.
everyone.
(00:53):
Great to be here.
I'm really excited to talkabout Wales on this episode.
I have actually discussed quite a fewperspective pieces on our website by
Ruthie in previous episodes with Nate.
So I'm really excited to get to talkto you a little bit more in depth about
where you're from and where you live.
So if you could, tell us a littlebit more about your time in Wales.
Thank you and I'm really excited to behere 'cause I've listened to all the
(01:16):
Travel Lemming podcast episodes so far,and one of my favorites is the one where
you talk about being a flight attendant.
So I learned loads and reallyappreciated your insights.
Oh, thank you.
yeah, I'm Ruthie, I'm from Cardiff.
I'm in Cardiff now andwe have a very sunny May.
I was born and bought up in Cardiff andI live here again, but before I've lived
(01:38):
in Spain and Germany as an au pair,which is something I've written about.
On a perspective articlefor travel lemming.
and after quite a few years ofliving away and in other countries,
I decided to come back home.
And yeah, I love writing about Wales andtelling people how they can visit, where
they can go, and why they should come.
(01:59):
Yes, absolutely.
And there are tons of articles writtenby Ruthie about Whales on travel
lemming, which we will be linkingin the show notes, so make sure to
check those out after this episode.
But we're gonna get intoit in just a moment.
So before we get into it, make sureto like and subscribe to our channel
so you can follow along with us as wetalk about new destinations every week.
So I always like to start withthe first question is, why
(02:21):
should somebody travel to Wales?
So, Wales is a beautiful country.
We have loads of great nature,national parks and landscapes to
visit, and a good variety as well.
So you can go to mountains, lakes,hills, and go along the river on a canoe.
We've also got the, well, one of thelongest continuous coast paths in the
(02:43):
world, which means you can walk theedge of Wales on a continuous path
with a route, and that walk takes youto some of the most beautiful beaches.
Well, I'm biased, but some of my favoritebeaches in the world are in Wales.
You can see wildlife like seals,puffins, maybe dolphins, and as well
as nature, we've got really interestingcities and towns and rich history.
(03:08):
So Wales is sometimes referred to asthe castle capital of the world, because
it's had over 600 castles recorded here.
And many of those still exist.
You can visit them.
Some are ruins, but someare still more intact.
as well as castles, we've gothistory dating back to the Roman
period, Tudors and in recenthistory in a lot of industry.
(03:32):
So coal mines, slope mines, andmuseums around those topics as well.
So if anyone loves nature,there's something for you.
Culture history, and got nicefood and friendly people as well.
So
Amazing.
I love it.
And yeah, I've never been toWales myself, but it just looks
(03:54):
absolutely stunning with the castlesand the history, like you said.
So we will definitely get a littlebit more in depth about all of that.
In just a moment, I want you to painta picture for listeners of how big
Whales is and where it's located.
So I'll start with where Walesis because this is something when
I've lived abroad, it's sometimes.
Met with a bit of confusion.
(04:15):
So Wales is in the uk, which is madeup of four countries, Wales, England,
Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
So neighbors to England, but whenpeople say, oh, is Wales in England?
I literally feel my South like, haveto come my south dying and reply, no,
we're not England, we're another country.
(04:35):
And the population is around 3 million.
So to put that into perspective,London has a population of just over 9
million and Scotland around 5 million.
So Wales is a relatively small country.
Also in terms of size, we're quitesmall, similar to Slovenia in Europe.
So relatively small and.
(04:58):
I always think of Wales as bit of anunderdog of the uk, especially in terms
of tourism so in 2019 about 40 millioninternational tourists visited the UK and
only just over 1 million came to Wales.
So that's a huge number of internationaltourists coming to the UK and
missing out on the beauty of Wales.
(05:20):
so that's where we are and kindof the size, but that definitely
doesn't mean to say that Walesdoesn't have a lot to offer.
think we punch above our weightin terms of, interesting places
to go and amazing nature to see.
Well, hopefully this podcast inspiresmore people to visit and give it a try.
hope so.
So even though it's so small, Iknow that there are cities there.
(05:41):
I've read your your BestCities in Wales article.
What are some of the bestplaces to stay in Wales?
So the cities in Wales, as you'llsee in the article is kind of an
I.
There are seven official cities, but someof those are basically the size of Tang.
So St. David's is the smallestcity in the UK and only has
(06:02):
a population of about 1,570.
So some of the cities inWales they feel like towns.
The title of city in the UK has somequite old fashioned rules around
it in terms of its significanceculturally or if there's a cathedral.
So that's why some.
Places in Wales are cities, eventhough you might visit and it might not
(06:23):
feel like what you imagine is a city.
And even Cardiff, which is whereI'm from, city of Wales has a
population of about 300,000.
So again, compared toLondon, about 9 million.
have smaller cities, but to methat's quite a positive thing because
when you visit, you can see a lotof what the city has to offer.
(06:46):
You can travel around quite easily.
So Cardiff and Swansea are of the maincities that I'd recommend visiting.
In Wales, they're both inSouth Wales, along the coast.
They're quite big student cities as well.
So you've got a lot of vibrancy,places to eat out, places to go out.
(07:06):
then Banga in North Wales, is in agreat location for exploring North
and into the national park there.
Where do you suggest someone whohas never been to Wales should stay?
So I think that reallydepends on what someone.
Wants to do when they're herebecause Wales is quite rural.
You could choose to stay kind of inthe middle of nowhere in a small town
(07:27):
I.
or in a shepherds hu or a smalltent, or kind of choose your
holiday based on a unique hotel.
We've got quite a few acrossWales, to explore South Wales.
I always recommend Cardiff as a good mainbase because it's at the capital city.
There's a lot to see here, but alsothere's transport connections, to
(07:47):
explore a lot of South Wales explore midWales and, Banai Bohan National Park,
which is one of our national parks,formerly known as the Breck and Beacons.
I'd recommend staying in Brecken or Hayon Y, which are both gorgeous towns.
Again, there's cute restaurantsand cafes and shops.
(08:08):
There's Hay on Y is a book town.
It's known as the world's first book town.
So there's loads of book shopsand it hosts a really famous,
literary festival each year.
then,
how cool.
yeah, it's really cute.
And there's a castle and again,that's close to the, B National Park.
So the B and Beacons.
(08:28):
then to explore North Wales.
I recommend Conway, whichis a really cute town.
Again, not far from the NationalPark there called Ri and Conway
also has a gorgeous castle.
It is one of the few that make up a World
Sorry.
so it is really worth a visit.
And again, from there there's goodtransport links to visit smaller
(08:51):
places in kind of more rural locations.
So the reason I recommend thoseas bases is because the weather in
Wales can be a bit unpredictable.
So if you're somewhere andit rains, at least you've got
other activities you can do.
Whereas if you are in kind of the middleof nowhere and you've planned your entire
trip on doing outdoor activities and thenone day you don't have the weather for
(09:14):
those outdoor activities, you might feela bit like you don't have many options.
So, Cardiff, Swanie, Brecken, or ha y andConway are some of my top recommendations,
but I've written a bit more about someother places in the article as well.
Awesome.
And of course, like I said before,we'll be linking that in the
(09:34):
show notes . You've mentioned allthese awesome places to stay in.
Kind of the beauty of a, a smallercountry like Wales is that you
can kind of access all of thesedifferent spots, even if you're not
necessarily staying in that area.
Are there any other notableplaces you wanna mention in Wales?
I really love the coastline inan area called Pembrokeshire.
So the tiny city that I mentioned, St.David's is a popular place to go to
(09:59):
Access Beaches and the coast of that area.
And also Tenby, which is a seaside town,again in Pembrokeshire and in South Wales.
And just, it's just alwaysgot a happy seaside feel.
I, I just love Tempe.
And then in North Wales.
Not far from Conway, which is thetown that I mentioned another town
(10:21):
called Caron, which again, is veryhistorical and has one of the castles
that makes up this World Heritage site.
But it just has a really nice feel to it.
A few years ago I did a trip to,Conway, Caron Aest with, which
is on the west side of Wales.
So many, like you couldchoose a small town.
I could name 10.
(10:43):
You know, so many small towns thatif you stayed in and small town's
your thing, you'd have a great time.
So
Are there any budget areasthat you'd recommend visiting?
I wouldn't say there arebudget areas in Wales, but.
areas that are really popular for peopleto go on holiday, including Welsh people.
We go to Tenby a lot.
(11:04):
go to St. David's and Pembrokeshire andalso to Thele Peninsula in North Wales.
They may be not so budget friendlybecause accommodation tends to be
a bit more pricey and there's notkind of big hostels or hotels.
It's often smaller places likesmaller bed and breakfasts.
camping can be a good budget option inWales because there's beautiful campsites
(11:25):
and camping tends to be cheaper thanpaying for other kinds of accommodation.
But again, Cardiff, Swansea andBanga, the cities I mentioned
earlier could be quite good choicesjust 'cause there's more available
accommodation, because of the students,and the kind of the university feel.
You can get cheaper food, cheaper drinks,and there's really good transport links.
(11:47):
So if you end up in a placein Wales that hasn't got.
Good bustle train connections and you endup paying for taxis, that is gonna get
expensive and you may not even get a taxi.
So you have to be careful with transport,which will get onto a bit later.
Yeah.
And so if you want to exploreWales without hiring a car,
which is very easy to do, that'scheaper usually than hiring a car.
(12:10):
And so looking for those placeswith good transport connections
is gonna be important.
In my experience, Wales is stillslightly cheaper than London.
I lived in London for a bit and justfood prices and bus tickets and you know,
getting a drink now and again, all adds
Yeah.
(12:31):
Yeah.
It's pricey.
yeah, so.
There is still a slight pricedifference, but I don't want to
oversell that price difference because
Gonna watch it there.
Yeah, I was, well, I was gonna ask too, doyou guys pay for things in, is it pounds?
Yeah.
So it's the same currency across the uk.
Oh, right, of course.
Louise's episode on Scotland andthey have the Scottish pounds, but
(12:54):
in Wales we don't have Welsh pounds.
Are there a lot ofhostels in the big cities?
The bigger cities.
Not many.
So
Okay.
kind of maybe one or two.
In each city.
So you can again, find like on bookingor hostel world, you can find these and
maybe base your trip around them the otherhostels that we have that aren't usually
(13:16):
in cities but are great for exploring morenatural rural areas are the YHA hostels.
So they're youth Hostel Associationand there's one in Pener Pass, which
is where a lot of people stay if theywant to walk up the biggest mountain
in Wales, there's also one embi,which is the time that's really cute.
So the YHA hostels can be a greatshout for budget travelers or
(13:41):
people who like to stay in hostels,but want to explore the outdoors.
Okay, great.
Thank you for that tip.
If you were to rent a car, canyou cross the border into England?
Like, do you get questioned?
Do you have to stop at border patrol orcan you just like cross the boundary?
So within the uk there aren't anyimmigration like border crossings or
(14:02):
anything, so that's what's a bit confusingbecause Wales is a country, but the UK.
Is a country, so we'rekind of within the uk.
So you can drive across a bridge betweenEngland and Wales or get a train or a bus.
There's literally no difference.
I mean, I used to live for a while in asmall town called Monmouth, which is on
the board of England and Wales, and I'dliterally walk or cycle across and you
(14:25):
don't even know you know, where you are.
Which was
Yeah.
confusing during COVID when Englandand Wales had slightly different
rules sometimes, and you had to
Oh yeah.
I bet.
what's going on?
So yeah, there's norestrictions in that sense.
The UK government rules on a lot ofthings for all the countries in the
uk and we do have a Welsh government,just like in Scotland as well.
(14:49):
So some things are decided here, butin terms of for tourists, there's
nothing to worry about on that front.
You can and go.
It's such a differentreality from America.
I'm from Arizona, which is down southand, shares a border with Mexico.
So it's such a production.
Not necessarily going into Mexico,but coming back, you know, with
(15:09):
immigration and everything, I, I can'teven imagine just crossing over and
not even really realizing that you'rein a different country entirely.
Yeah.
And I think that's truefor quite a bit of Europe.
True.
Yeah.
but, so within the UK we don't have that.
But if I go to France oranywhere on Continental Europe,
I have to show my passport so
(15:30):
Which I, which Nate and I talkeda lot about in our Europe episode,
which for listeners, you shouldcheck that out after this if you're
interested in traveling around Europe.
But for travelers going from anywhere inI would refer to as continental Europe to
the uk, you would have to show a passport.
Awesome.
I wanna get into when is thebest time to visit whales
probably today because it isthe best weather we've had for
(15:54):
now?
right now.
Teleport yourselves tothe sunny, sunny Cardiff.
I wish I could.
So Wales is notoriously quite wet andrainy, and I always say that's why
everything's so green and nice and we'vegot such beautiful places you can go with,
you know, trees and plants and nature.
But the reality is wheneveryou come, it could rain.
(16:16):
We don't really have a seasonthat's, dry the summer and spring
is typically when there's less rain.
So I'd recommend spring or summertime.
So between March and say August.
But recently September hasbeen quite a sunny month.
So it really depends.
And when I say sunny, I'm talkingabout maximum 25 degrees Celsius.
(16:41):
It's
Yeah.
hot country like that would be rare.
We don't get many days a year thatare kind of above 25 degrees Celsius.
So spring time's a greattime to come to Wales.
It's not so rainy.
It might get some sun, but thespring flowers are my favorite
thing about that season.
and Autumn's also beautiful.
You've got the trees kind ofturning colors and winter's
(17:04):
nice, but the days are shorter.
It gets dark maybe by five o'clock.
Does it snow a lot?
not too much.
It will higher up.
So if you go up, you know, up themountains, the higher you go, there
might be a bit of snow or you mightsee a bit, but you know, it doesn't
get cold enough really to snow loads.
Yeah.
And you mentioned the mountains earlier.
(17:25):
I was curious, do you knowhow high those mountains are?
Like, are they really steep mountains?
Because when I think of like Londonarea, I just think of it being so
flat, which I know it's not the same.
So are they hills, mountains?
So the tallest Mount Tin inWales is a with, which is 1085
meters, which are 3,560 feet.
(17:48):
So
Okay.
Pretty decent.
it's, it's a full on hike.
You shouldn't be just strolling up therein flip flops, which unfortunately some
tourists do and it doesn't end too well.
I don't advise that.
and then in South Wales, PenaVan, which is a really popular
hike, is 886 meters or 2,900 feet.
Yeah, that's definitely a hike.
(18:09):
they're hikes and I think because they'renot as high as maybe the Alps or other
mountain ranges in Europe, people think,oh, I can just walk up this quite easily.
But like in any place, if you'rein Wales and you want to walk up a
mountain, you need to be prepared.
Yeah, you gotta stick to the precautions,
and stick to a path and a proper mapbecause checking Google maps when you're
(18:33):
halfway up like a tall mountain, is notthe most reliable way of finding your way.
. Well, in that same vein, Iwant to talk about what are
the best things to do in Wales?
So hiking up a mountain is clearlyone of, the great things you
can do here, visiting a castle.
So, as I say, we've got.
Hundreds of castles to visit.
I recommend Conway or Caron Castle.
(18:57):
Kali Castles the biggest in Wales,and Chapo Castles the oldest.
So if you're really into castles, you canfind like a specific one you want to see.
But I just think seeing anyoneis, you know, a great experience.
Another great thing to do in Walesis to take a scenic train ride.
So there's quite a few different optionsand they go through amazing scenery
(19:18):
and because you're on the train, youcan just sit back, relax, and look
out, and then explore somewhere andthen get back on the train and go back.
So my favorites are the veil of predo, which is near Abst with, and
you can go to a place called Devil'sBridge, which is a gorgeous waterfall
spot and then you travel back.
There's also the Fest and Welsh HighlandsRailway, the Brecken Mountain Railway.
(19:41):
There's just a lot of options.
So I enjoy that kind of travel,but I think it's a great day
trip, just to be able to see moreof the countryside so quite an.
Exciting thing if you are a bitof an adrenaline junkie, is to
go on one of the many attractionsand activities at Zip World.
There's a few sites in Wales, andthere's the fastest zip line in the
(20:02):
world, which goes over disused quarry.
You can trampoline in an old quarry, I'vedone that and it's, it's just great fun.
So in my best thingsto do in Wales article.
visiting a beach is another good one.
Just exploring the townswalking around the cities.
Yeah, there's a lot of outdooractivities, another thing I
(20:24):
recommend is checking the museums.
And I've written anarticle specifically about.
Museums in Wales, but some of them arereally fascinating and very interactive.
So it's a great family day out.
You know, there's art from manydifferent countries here in
the National Museum of Cardiff.
So you could check out the museum,especially if it's raining.
(20:45):
It's always a good backup.
Yeah, good indoor activity.
Oh, and try some Welsh food.
So,
I was gonna ask you, what is Welsh food?
so we've got Welsh cakes,which are like small
cakes, kind of biscuits.
They're not biscuits.
They've got dried fruit in.
They're kind of hard to describe,but they're really nice.
We've got bar brief, which is atea bread with dried fruit, lava
(21:09):
bread, if you see that written,it's not bread, it's seaweed.
So you have that on like atraditional Welsh breakfast.
A feature of Welsh food is, in my opinion,that a lot of the produce is quite local.
So because there's lots of farming,we benefit from having kind of locally
produced meat and vegetables and fruit.
So especially in, independent restaurantsin particular, you often see it'll say
(21:33):
from this farm or from this butcher orlike locally produced, good quality food.
So I think that's a really goodfeature of eating out in Wales and I
always recommend trying those kind ofsmaller, more independent restaurants.
Of all the things that you talked aboutdoing in Wales, what are the top three
attractions that you'd recommend visiting
(21:54):
?So in terms of attractions and the ones I've mentioned, a museum and zip
world attractions are the top I'm gonnathrow in Port Mary on as well, which
is a really picturesque, they describeit as an italianesque village, so it's
got a Mediterranean feel, but it's onthe Welsh coast and if you catch it on
(22:14):
a sunny day, it's just a special town.
But it's, it's a folly town, so itwas built to look of Mediterranean,
and be a tourist at attraction.
So it's not kind of a normaltown, but it's just stunning.
And you can also stay there.
So you could book a nightin the castle there.
And then you get to wander aroundwhen everyone else has gone home.
(22:35):
and if I get a fourth, I'll throw inFolly Farm, which is just a nostalgic
family day out, in Pembrokeshire.
And you can see wildlife, it'slike a zoo and indoor attractions,
especially for kids like play parks.
That's awesome.
Is there any etiquette visitorsshould know before they go to
Wales or any societal taboos?
(22:56):
So Welsh , RI is anofficial language of Wales.
Within Wales.
So we've got English and Welsh,the country is bilingual in terms
of, kind of government documents.
So you'll see a lot of publicnotices in English and Welsh.
You'll see, signs to placesin both languages and a
lot of the place names are.
(23:18):
Welsh.
So originally, you know, theplace names, some of the ones I've
mentioned are in the Welsh language.
That's my why.
They might sound a bitmore tricky to pronounce.
And other ones maybe have a translation.
So you'll see the Welsh language a lot.
You might hear it in some counties.
For example, Caron, which is the townI mentioned earlier, over 80% of
(23:39):
the population are Welsh speakers.
In Cardiff, there's quite abig Welsh speaking community.
I'm a learner, so Iunderstand quite a lot.
I've, we learn it from in school,it's a compulsory subject.
And then I go to Welsh class now.
So, there's, a big communityof learners and speakers.
You'll probably come across the language.
(24:00):
On your trip.
And I think just like if you're goinganywhere else, just being respectful
of the language is really important.
The wel alphabet's a bit differentto the English alphabet, so
we've got a few extra letters.
For example, double L, sodouble Alice sound and CH is
Okay,
sound, so when you see names,sometimes there's lots of letters.
(24:22):
Vowels are different and y and wfor example, are vowels in Welsh.
So.
I just get a bit annoyed whenpeople are like, oh, ha ha,
there's no vowels in this.
Or, you know, it looks so weird.
And it's like, well, it'sa different language.
Of course it looks different.
It's not,
Of course.
But, I love languages, soit's a bit of a. Passion.
(24:44):
And you know, I love the Welsh language,which is why I want to be fluent one day.
But I think as a tourist, just beingaware that there is another language
and to respect it, I would recommendtrying to pronounce the places
you want to visit before you come.
Because if they are a bit differentor challenging for you, you can just
look on YouTube, find, you know, findsomeone saying it and then repeat it.
(25:09):
I sometimes hear people tell me, ohyeah, I went to Wales, I went to,
and then they say this name, and I'mlike, I have no idea where that is.
And then I realize it's just 'causethey've completely butchered the name
of the place and I think if you're lostand you need to ask for directions,
you know, you want to feel like youcan at least say where you are going.
(25:29):
Even if you're not sayingit in the, you know, best
pronunciation, it doesn't matter.
The fact that you're trying andyou've looked it up is going
to stand you in good stead.
if
yeah.
Absolutely.
you could learn, you knowhow to say and thank you.
Which Shamai is Hello Ol is.
Thank you.
Shamai, that's, hello.
Okay.
(25:49):
Yeah, no, I think, I think it's alwaysreally important to at least learn a few
phrases before you visit any country.
And I think a lot of people justassume that Wales, since it's in the
uk, they just speak English, you know?
So yeah, I think thatthose are great tips.
Definitely learn a, a few phrasesand at least know the basics of what
you're doing and where you're going.
So Welsh is one of the oldestlanguages in Europe and it's got Celtic
(26:11):
roots, so it's share similaritieswith, you know, the languages.
spoken also in Ireland and Scotland and
That's super interesting.
As we're getting to the end ofthe episode, I wanna talk about
how to explore all these differentplaces you've discussed in whales.
So, what are the bestways to get around whales?
So one option is to hirea car and drive round.
(26:31):
I would say similar to in Scotland,a lot of our roads are quite small.
So if you're not so confident on countryroads, that might not be the best
option, especially if you want to goto some of the more rural destinations.
I recommend traveling by bus or train.
So public transport in Walescan be a bit patchy, I'll admit.
It can sometimes be, you know, notquite running to the perfect schedule.
(26:56):
So factor that into yourplans and itineraries.
But on the whole, you can travel to alot of the destinations I've mentioned
on public transport, and that meansthat you can enjoy the views as well.
So for example, if you travel by bus,from Kamar and to Aest with which are two
towns kind of near the coast where Aestwith is on the coast of Wales, you get
(27:17):
some nice coastal views along the way.
If you travel on a train, there's atrain line called The Heart of Wales,
and that's just a normal train line.
That's not one of theones I mentioned earlier.
That's kind of a specificroute or just for toys.
That's when you can travel onto get, further up or onwards
to Manchester for example.
(27:37):
And that's stunning.
It goes through a lot of beautifulcountryside and landscapes.
I recommend traveling by basal train runwhale, to be able to see the scenery.
The only thing that I'll mention isobviously you have to then choose
destinations that are connected.
the public transport network.
And if you want to go really off thebeaten track, it might be a bit more
(27:58):
of an adventure to go on, you know,smaller connecting buses or some places
aren't really on many routes, so youmight be a bit, well, you don't want
to be stranded, so you need a bit ofplanning if that is what you're gonna do.
But quite a few of the destinations I'vementioned, one of the reasons I recommend
them is because of their transport links.
(28:19):
So if someone was to plan a trip toWales and wanted to see the whole of
the country, I. How many days do youthink they would need to achieve that?
To go from south to North andsee everything in between?
so that's a hard one to say.
'cause I still have so manyplaces that I want to visit.
But in my seven dayitinerary that I've written.
I've put a good mix of goingto destinations in South Wales,
(28:42):
mid Wales and North Wales.
So that gives you a bit of a flavorof a few of the different areas.
It's a mix of cities,towns, national parks.
So I think in seven days you couldget a really good feel for Wales,
so you could visit fromand have a long weekend.
That's the other option.
So if you've not got so many days,but you want a flavor of Wales.
(29:04):
You could stay, say in Con WheelCardiff, or another destination
and stay for maybe three or fourdays and just focus on that area.
If people are flying into Wales, shouldthey fly in to the country or should
they fly into London and then get their,you know, via train or, or bus or car?
Cardiff does have aninternational airport.
(29:26):
So you could fly to Cardiff potentiallydepending on where you're coming from.
Most international flights will goto London, Birmingham or Manchester.
And from any of those cities,you can easily travel to Wales.
So you don't need to worry about,you know, if you can't fly here
directly, it's not a problem.
It's only two hours on the train fromCardiff to London, so it's really not far.
(29:48):
Oh, nice.
You can go across intoWales really easily.
So, and same with Birmingham.
So there's train connections andcoaches like National Express that
travel from a lot of major Englishcities to major well cities.
So, so that's the other thing I thinkpeople often don't quite know about
(30:09):
Wales is that it's not that far away.
Like obviously if you're going
Right.
the edge to, so St. David's is righton, you know, the very edge of a
little coastal region in Wales.
That's gonna takefurther, that's gonna take
Yeah.
get to, even for me from card, if thattakes, you know, a couple of hours.
But I used to go to London and back ina day for work and people would say, oh,
(30:31):
you've traveled from Wales this morningas if I've come from, you know, this
long lost land in the middle of nowhere.
It's like, yeah, it wasless than two hours.
Yeah.
commute within, you know, in England.
Do you have any other tips forpeople who are visiting whales?
My first tip is to consider the transportand checking how you're gonna get
(30:51):
somewhere and then how you'll travelwhen you're there really important.
My other tips are checking theweather forecast so that you
know, what might be coming up.
I think just think about what you wantto do when you're here and then looking
for a location stay that suits your needs
To wrap up, what is the ultimatereason that people should visit Wales?
(31:12):
So Wales is often an overlookedtourist destination, especially
by international tourists.
But although we're small,there's loads to see and there's
incredible nature and scenery.
Wales is rich with history andculture, and I think wherever you
go you'll find something that isan enjoyable holiday activity.
now, I really do wanna go to Wales.
(31:32):
It, it was never something that I'dconsidered that much in the past, until
I really started to see your articles.
And now that I've talked to youtoday, I really would love to
visit the next time I'm in the uk.
are very welcome to come.
I'll show you round
amazing.
Well thank you so muchRuthie, for being here today.
And again to all of our listeners, allthe articles that are relevant to this
(31:54):
episode will be linked in the show notes.
Make sure to check out RuthThese's articles after the
episode on travel lemming.com.
We've got over 1500 differentguides on the, the website.
So we've got a little somethingfor all your destinations.
If you like the episode, makesure to like and subscribe.
We're posting videos on Thursdays
so thank you again, Ruthie,for joining us today.
(32:15):
I hope you had a great timeon the Travel Living Podcast.
Thank you, as we'd say here.
I love it.
I love it.
I gotta a practice, the sounds.
And thank you all so much to ourlisteners for being here today.
We will see you next timeon the Travel Le Podcast.
If you're planning to visit Wales,this is the episode for you.
Here's a 32nd teaser of the episode.
(00:33):
Welcome everybody to theTravel Leming podcast.
I'm your host, Betty Hurd.
This is where we discuss the bestdestinations around the world,
and we teach you what you need toknow before you go and basically
gets you excited to travel.
My guest today is a freelance writerfor travel lemming from Wales.
So welcome to the show, Ruthie Walters.
everyone.
(00:53):
Great to be here.
I'm really excited to talkabout Wales on this episode.
I have actually discussed quite a fewperspective pieces on our website by
Ruthie in previous episodes with Nate.
So I'm really excited to get to talkto you a little bit more in depth about
where you're from and where you live.
So if you could, tell us a littlebit more about your time in Wales.
Thank you and I'm really excited to behere 'cause I've listened to all the
(01:16):
Travel Lemming podcast episodes so far,and one of my favorites is the one where
you talk about being a flight attendant.
So I learned loads and reallyappreciated your insights.
Oh, thank you.
yeah, I'm Ruthie, I'm from Cardiff.
I'm in Cardiff now andwe have a very sunny May.
I was born and bought up in Cardiff andI live here again, but before I've lived
(01:38):
in Spain and Germany as an au pair,which is something I've written about.
On a perspective articlefor travel lemming.
and after quite a few years ofliving away and in other countries,
I decided to come back home.
And yeah, I love writing about Wales andtelling people how they can visit, where
they can go, and why they should come.
(01:59):
Yes, absolutely.
And there are tons of articles writtenby Ruthie about Whales on travel
lemming, which we will be linkingin the show notes, so make sure to
check those out after this episode.
But we're gonna get intoit in just a moment.
So before we get into it, make sureto like and subscribe to our channel
so you can follow along with us as wetalk about new destinations every week.
So I always like to start withthe first question is, why
(02:21):
should somebody travel to Wales?
So, Wales is a beautiful country.
We have loads of great nature,national parks and landscapes to
visit, and a good variety as well.
So you can go to mountains, lakes,hills, and go along the river on a canoe.
We've also got the, well, one of thelongest continuous coast paths in the
(02:43):
world, which means you can walk theedge of Wales on a continuous path
with a route, and that walk takes youto some of the most beautiful beaches.
Well, I'm biased, but some of my favoritebeaches in the world are in Wales.
You can see wildlife like seals,puffins, maybe dolphins, and as well
as nature, we've got really interestingcities and towns and rich history.
(03:08):
So Wales is sometimes referred to asthe castle capital of the world, because
it's had over 600 castles recorded here.
And many of those still exist.
You can visit them.
Some are ruins, but someare still more intact.
as well as castles, we've gothistory dating back to the Roman
period, Tudors and in recenthistory in a lot of industry.
(03:32):
So coal mines, slope mines, andmuseums around those topics as well.
So if anyone loves nature,there's something for you.
Culture history, and got nicefood and friendly people as well.
So
Amazing.
I love it.
And yeah, I've never been toWales myself, but it just looks
(03:54):
absolutely stunning with the castlesand the history, like you said.
So we will definitely get a littlebit more in depth about all of that.
In just a moment, I want you to painta picture for listeners of how big
Whales is and where it's located.
So I'll start with where Walesis because this is something when
I've lived abroad, it's sometimes.
Met with a bit of confusion.
(04:15):
So Wales is in the uk, which is madeup of four countries, Wales, England,
Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
So neighbors to England, but whenpeople say, oh, is Wales in England?
I literally feel my South like, haveto come my south dying and reply, no,
we're not England, we're another country.
(04:35):
And the population is around 3 million.
So to put that into perspective,London has a population of just over 9
million and Scotland around 5 million.
So Wales is a relatively small country.
Also in terms of size, we're quitesmall, similar to Slovenia in Europe.
So relatively small and.
(04:58):
I always think of Wales as bit of anunderdog of the uk, especially in terms
of tourism so in 2019 about 40 millioninternational tourists visited the UK and
only just over 1 million came to Wales.
So that's a huge number of internationaltourists coming to the UK and
missing out on the beauty of Wales.
(05:20):
so that's where we are and kindof the size, but that definitely
doesn't mean to say that Walesdoesn't have a lot to offer.
think we punch above our weightin terms of, interesting places
to go and amazing nature to see.
Well, hopefully this podcast inspiresmore people to visit and give it a try.
hope so.
So even though it's so small, Iknow that there are cities there.
(05:41):
I've read your your BestCities in Wales article.
What are some of the bestplaces to stay in Wales?
So the cities in Wales, as you'llsee in the article is kind of an
I.
There are seven official cities, but someof those are basically the size of Tang.
So St. David's is the smallestcity in the UK and only has
(06:02):
a population of about 1,570.
So some of the cities inWales they feel like towns.
The title of city in the UK has somequite old fashioned rules around
it in terms of its significanceculturally or if there's a cathedral.
So that's why some.
Places in Wales are cities, eventhough you might visit and it might not
(06:23):
feel like what you imagine is a city.
And even Cardiff, which is whereI'm from, city of Wales has a
population of about 300,000.
So again, compared toLondon, about 9 million.
have smaller cities, but to methat's quite a positive thing because
when you visit, you can see a lotof what the city has to offer.
(06:46):
You can travel around quite easily.
So Cardiff and Swansea are of the maincities that I'd recommend visiting.
In Wales, they're both inSouth Wales, along the coast.
They're quite big student cities as well.
So you've got a lot of vibrancy,places to eat out, places to go out.
(07:06):
then Banga in North Wales, is in agreat location for exploring North
and into the national park there.
Where do you suggest someone whohas never been to Wales should stay?
So I think that reallydepends on what someone.
Wants to do when they're herebecause Wales is quite rural.
You could choose to stay kind of inthe middle of nowhere in a small town
(07:27):
I.
or in a shepherds hu or a smalltent, or kind of choose your
holiday based on a unique hotel.
We've got quite a few acrossWales, to explore South Wales.
I always recommend Cardiff as a good mainbase because it's at the capital city.
There's a lot to see here, but alsothere's transport connections, to
(07:47):
explore a lot of South Wales explore midWales and, Banai Bohan National Park,
which is one of our national parks,formerly known as the Breck and Beacons.
I'd recommend staying in Brecken or Hayon Y, which are both gorgeous towns.
Again, there's cute restaurantsand cafes and shops.
(08:08):
There's Hay on Y is a book town.
It's known as the world's first book town.
So there's loads of book shopsand it hosts a really famous,
literary festival each year.
then,
how cool.
yeah, it's really cute.
And there's a castle and again,that's close to the, B National Park.
So the B and Beacons.
(08:28):
then to explore North Wales.
I recommend Conway, whichis a really cute town.
Again, not far from the NationalPark there called Ri and Conway
also has a gorgeous castle.
It is one of the few that make up a World
Sorry.
so it is really worth a visit.
And again, from there there's goodtransport links to visit smaller
(08:51):
places in kind of more rural locations.
So the reason I recommend thoseas bases is because the weather in
Wales can be a bit unpredictable.
So if you're somewhere andit rains, at least you've got
other activities you can do.
Whereas if you are in kind of the middleof nowhere and you've planned your entire
trip on doing outdoor activities and thenone day you don't have the weather for
(09:14):
those outdoor activities, you might feela bit like you don't have many options.
So, Cardiff, Swanie, Brecken, or ha y andConway are some of my top recommendations,
but I've written a bit more about someother places in the article as well.
Awesome.
And of course, like I said before,we'll be linking that in the
(09:34):
show notes . You've mentioned allthese awesome places to stay in.
Kind of the beauty of a, a smallercountry like Wales is that you
can kind of access all of thesedifferent spots, even if you're not
necessarily staying in that area.
Are there any other notableplaces you wanna mention in Wales?
I really love the coastline inan area called Pembrokeshire.
So the tiny city that I mentioned, St.David's is a popular place to go to
(09:59):
Access Beaches and the coast of that area.
And also Tenby, which is a seaside town,again in Pembrokeshire and in South Wales.
And just, it's just alwaysgot a happy seaside feel.
I, I just love Tempe.
And then in North Wales.
Not far from Conway, which is thetown that I mentioned another town
(10:21):
called Caron, which again, is veryhistorical and has one of the castles
that makes up this World Heritage site.
But it just has a really nice feel to it.
A few years ago I did a trip to,Conway, Caron Aest with, which
is on the west side of Wales.
So many, like you couldchoose a small town.
I could name 10.
(10:43):
You know, so many small towns thatif you stayed in and small town's
your thing, you'd have a great time.
So
Are there any budget areasthat you'd recommend visiting?
I wouldn't say there arebudget areas in Wales, but.
areas that are really popular for peopleto go on holiday, including Welsh people.
We go to Tenby a lot.
(11:04):
go to St. David's and Pembrokeshire andalso to Thele Peninsula in North Wales.
They may be not so budget friendlybecause accommodation tends to be
a bit more pricey and there's notkind of big hostels or hotels.
It's often smaller places likesmaller bed and breakfasts.
camping can be a good budget option inWales because there's beautiful campsites
(11:25):
and camping tends to be cheaper thanpaying for other kinds of accommodation.
But again, Cardiff, Swansea andBanga, the cities I mentioned
earlier could be quite good choicesjust 'cause there's more available
accommodation, because of the students,and the kind of the university feel.
You can get cheaper food, cheaper drinks,and there's really good transport links.
(11:47):
So if you end up in a placein Wales that hasn't got.
Good bustle train connections and you endup paying for taxis, that is gonna get
expensive and you may not even get a taxi.
So you have to be careful with transport,which will get onto a bit later.
Yeah.
And so if you want to exploreWales without hiring a car,
which is very easy to do, that'scheaper usually than hiring a car.
(12:10):
And so looking for those placeswith good transport connections
is gonna be important.
In my experience, Wales is stillslightly cheaper than London.
I lived in London for a bit and justfood prices and bus tickets and you know,
getting a drink now and again, all adds
Yeah.
(12:31):
Yeah.
It's pricey.
yeah, so.
There is still a slight pricedifference, but I don't want to
oversell that price difference because
Gonna watch it there.
Yeah, I was, well, I was gonna ask too, doyou guys pay for things in, is it pounds?
Yeah.
So it's the same currency across the uk.
Oh, right, of course.
Louise's episode on Scotland andthey have the Scottish pounds, but
(12:54):
in Wales we don't have Welsh pounds.
Are there a lot ofhostels in the big cities?
The bigger cities.
Not many.
So
Okay.
kind of maybe one or two.
In each city.
So you can again, find like on bookingor hostel world, you can find these and
maybe base your trip around them the otherhostels that we have that aren't usually
(13:16):
in cities but are great for exploring morenatural rural areas are the YHA hostels.
So they're youth Hostel Associationand there's one in Pener Pass, which
is where a lot of people stay if theywant to walk up the biggest mountain
in Wales, there's also one embi,which is the time that's really cute.
So the YHA hostels can be a greatshout for budget travelers or
(13:41):
people who like to stay in hostels,but want to explore the outdoors.
Okay, great.
Thank you for that tip.
If you were to rent a car, canyou cross the border into England?
Like, do you get questioned?
Do you have to stop at border patrol orcan you just like cross the boundary?
So within the uk there aren't anyimmigration like border crossings or
(14:02):
anything, so that's what's a bit confusingbecause Wales is a country, but the UK.
Is a country, so we'rekind of within the uk.
So you can drive across a bridge betweenEngland and Wales or get a train or a bus.
There's literally no difference.
I mean, I used to live for a while in asmall town called Monmouth, which is on
the board of England and Wales, and I'dliterally walk or cycle across and you
(14:25):
don't even know you know, where you are.
Which was
Yeah.
confusing during COVID when Englandand Wales had slightly different
rules sometimes, and you had to
Oh yeah.
I bet.
what's going on?
So yeah, there's norestrictions in that sense.
The UK government rules on a lot ofthings for all the countries in the
uk and we do have a Welsh government,just like in Scotland as well.
(14:49):
So some things are decided here, butin terms of for tourists, there's
nothing to worry about on that front.
You can and go.
It's such a differentreality from America.
I'm from Arizona, which is down southand, shares a border with Mexico.
So it's such a production.
Not necessarily going into Mexico,but coming back, you know, with
(15:09):
immigration and everything, I, I can'teven imagine just crossing over and
not even really realizing that you'rein a different country entirely.
Yeah.
And I think that's truefor quite a bit of Europe.
True.
Yeah.
but, so within the UK we don't have that.
But if I go to France oranywhere on Continental Europe,
I have to show my passport so
(15:30):
Which I, which Nate and I talkeda lot about in our Europe episode,
which for listeners, you shouldcheck that out after this if you're
interested in traveling around Europe.
But for travelers going from anywhere inI would refer to as continental Europe to
the uk, you would have to show a passport.
Awesome.
I wanna get into when is thebest time to visit whales
probably today because it isthe best weather we've had for
(15:54):
now?
right now.
Teleport yourselves tothe sunny, sunny Cardiff.
I wish I could.
So Wales is notoriously quite wet andrainy, and I always say that's why
everything's so green and nice and we'vegot such beautiful places you can go with,
you know, trees and plants and nature.
But the reality is wheneveryou come, it could rain.
(16:16):
We don't really have a seasonthat's, dry the summer and spring
is typically when there's less rain.
So I'd recommend spring or summertime.
So between March and say August.
But recently September hasbeen quite a sunny month.
So it really depends.
And when I say sunny, I'm talkingabout maximum 25 degrees Celsius.
(16:41):
It's
Yeah.
hot country like that would be rare.
We don't get many days a year thatare kind of above 25 degrees Celsius.
So spring time's a greattime to come to Wales.
It's not so rainy.
It might get some sun, but thespring flowers are my favorite
thing about that season.
and Autumn's also beautiful.
You've got the trees kind ofturning colors and winter's
(17:04):
nice, but the days are shorter.
It gets dark maybe by five o'clock.
Does it snow a lot?
not too much.
It will higher up.
So if you go up, you know, up themountains, the higher you go, there
might be a bit of snow or you mightsee a bit, but you know, it doesn't
get cold enough really to snow loads.
Yeah.
And you mentioned the mountains earlier.
(17:25):
I was curious, do you knowhow high those mountains are?
Like, are they really steep mountains?
Because when I think of like Londonarea, I just think of it being so
flat, which I know it's not the same.
So are they hills, mountains?
So the tallest Mount Tin inWales is a with, which is 1085
meters, which are 3,560 feet.
(17:48):
So
Okay.
Pretty decent.
it's, it's a full on hike.
You shouldn't be just strolling up therein flip flops, which unfortunately some
tourists do and it doesn't end too well.
I don't advise that.
and then in South Wales, PenaVan, which is a really popular
hike, is 886 meters or 2,900 feet.
Yeah, that's definitely a hike.
(18:09):
they're hikes and I think because they'renot as high as maybe the Alps or other
mountain ranges in Europe, people think,oh, I can just walk up this quite easily.
But like in any place, if you'rein Wales and you want to walk up a
mountain, you need to be prepared.
Yeah, you gotta stick to the precautions,
and stick to a path and a proper mapbecause checking Google maps when you're
(18:33):
halfway up like a tall mountain, is notthe most reliable way of finding your way.
. Well, in that same vein, Iwant to talk about what are
the best things to do in Wales?
So hiking up a mountain is clearlyone of, the great things you
can do here, visiting a castle.
So, as I say, we've got.
Hundreds of castles to visit.
I recommend Conway or Caron Castle.
(18:57):
Kali Castles the biggest in Wales,and Chapo Castles the oldest.
So if you're really into castles, you canfind like a specific one you want to see.
But I just think seeing anyoneis, you know, a great experience.
Another great thing to do in Walesis to take a scenic train ride.
So there's quite a few different optionsand they go through amazing scenery
(19:18):
and because you're on the train, youcan just sit back, relax, and look
out, and then explore somewhere andthen get back on the train and go back.
So my favorites are the veil of predo, which is near Abst with, and
you can go to a place called Devil'sBridge, which is a gorgeous waterfall
spot and then you travel back.
There's also the Fest and Welsh HighlandsRailway, the Brecken Mountain Railway.
(19:41):
There's just a lot of options.
So I enjoy that kind of travel,but I think it's a great day
trip, just to be able to see moreof the countryside so quite an.
Exciting thing if you are a bitof an adrenaline junkie, is to
go on one of the many attractionsand activities at Zip World.
There's a few sites in Wales, andthere's the fastest zip line in the
(20:02):
world, which goes over disused quarry.
You can trampoline in an old quarry, I'vedone that and it's, it's just great fun.
So in my best thingsto do in Wales article.
visiting a beach is another good one.
Just exploring the townswalking around the cities.
Yeah, there's a lot of outdooractivities, another thing I
(20:24):
recommend is checking the museums.
And I've written anarticle specifically about.
Museums in Wales, but some of them arereally fascinating and very interactive.
So it's a great family day out.
You know, there's art from manydifferent countries here in
the National Museum of Cardiff.
So you could check out the museum,especially if it's raining.
(20:45):
It's always a good backup.
Yeah, good indoor activity.
Oh, and try some Welsh food.
So,
I was gonna ask you, what is Welsh food?
so we've got Welsh cakes,which are like small
cakes, kind of biscuits.
They're not biscuits.
They've got dried fruit in.
They're kind of hard to describe,but they're really nice.
We've got bar brief, which is atea bread with dried fruit, lava
(21:09):
bread, if you see that written,it's not bread, it's seaweed.
So you have that on like atraditional Welsh breakfast.
A feature of Welsh food is, in my opinion,that a lot of the produce is quite local.
So because there's lots of farming,we benefit from having kind of locally
produced meat and vegetables and fruit.
So especially in, independent restaurantsin particular, you often see it'll say
(21:33):
from this farm or from this butcher orlike locally produced, good quality food.
So I think that's a really goodfeature of eating out in Wales and I
always recommend trying those kind ofsmaller, more independent restaurants.
Of all the things that you talked aboutdoing in Wales, what are the top three
attractions that you'd recommend visiting
(21:54):
?So in terms of attractions and the ones I've mentioned, a museum and zip
world attractions are the top I'm gonnathrow in Port Mary on as well, which
is a really picturesque, they describeit as an italianesque village, so it's
got a Mediterranean feel, but it's onthe Welsh coast and if you catch it on
(22:14):
a sunny day, it's just a special town.
But it's, it's a folly town, so itwas built to look of Mediterranean,
and be a tourist at attraction.
So it's not kind of a normaltown, but it's just stunning.
And you can also stay there.
So you could book a nightin the castle there.
And then you get to wander aroundwhen everyone else has gone home.
(22:35):
and if I get a fourth, I'll throw inFolly Farm, which is just a nostalgic
family day out, in Pembrokeshire.
And you can see wildlife, it'slike a zoo and indoor attractions,
especially for kids like play parks.
That's awesome.
Is there any etiquette visitorsshould know before they go to
Wales or any societal taboos?
(22:56):
So Welsh , RI is anofficial language of Wales.
Within Wales.
So we've got English and Welsh,the country is bilingual in terms
of, kind of government documents.
So you'll see a lot of publicnotices in English and Welsh.
You'll see, signs to placesin both languages and a
lot of the place names are.
(23:18):
Welsh.
So originally, you know, theplace names, some of the ones I've
mentioned are in the Welsh language.
That's my why.
They might sound a bitmore tricky to pronounce.
And other ones maybe have a translation.
So you'll see the Welsh language a lot.
You might hear it in some counties.
For example, Caron, which is the townI mentioned earlier, over 80% of
(23:39):
the population are Welsh speakers.
In Cardiff, there's quite abig Welsh speaking community.
I'm a learner, so Iunderstand quite a lot.
I've, we learn it from in school,it's a compulsory subject.
And then I go to Welsh class now.
So, there's, a big communityof learners and speakers.
You'll probably come across the language.
(24:00):
On your trip.
And I think just like if you're goinganywhere else, just being respectful
of the language is really important.
The wel alphabet's a bit differentto the English alphabet, so
we've got a few extra letters.
For example, double L, sodouble Alice sound and CH is
Okay,
sound, so when you see names,sometimes there's lots of letters.
(24:22):
Vowels are different and y and wfor example, are vowels in Welsh.
So.
I just get a bit annoyed whenpeople are like, oh, ha ha,
there's no vowels in this.
Or, you know, it looks so weird.
And it's like, well, it'sa different language.
Of course it looks different.
It's not,
Of course.
But, I love languages, soit's a bit of a. Passion.
(24:44):
And you know, I love the Welsh language,which is why I want to be fluent one day.
But I think as a tourist, just beingaware that there is another language
and to respect it, I would recommendtrying to pronounce the places
you want to visit before you come.
Because if they are a bit differentor challenging for you, you can just
look on YouTube, find, you know, findsomeone saying it and then repeat it.
(25:09):
I sometimes hear people tell me, ohyeah, I went to Wales, I went to,
and then they say this name, and I'mlike, I have no idea where that is.
And then I realize it's just 'causethey've completely butchered the name
of the place and I think if you're lostand you need to ask for directions,
you know, you want to feel like youcan at least say where you are going.
(25:29):
Even if you're not sayingit in the, you know, best
pronunciation, it doesn't matter.
The fact that you're trying andyou've looked it up is going
to stand you in good stead.
if
yeah.
Absolutely.
you could learn, you knowhow to say and thank you.
Which Shamai is Hello Ol is.
Thank you.
Shamai, that's, hello.
Okay.
(25:49):
Yeah, no, I think, I think it's alwaysreally important to at least learn a few
phrases before you visit any country.
And I think a lot of people justassume that Wales, since it's in the
uk, they just speak English, you know?
So yeah, I think thatthose are great tips.
Definitely learn a, a few phrasesand at least know the basics of what
you're doing and where you're going.
So Welsh is one of the oldestlanguages in Europe and it's got Celtic
(26:11):
roots, so it's share similaritieswith, you know, the languages.
spoken also in Ireland and Scotland and
That's super interesting.
As we're getting to the end ofthe episode, I wanna talk about
how to explore all these differentplaces you've discussed in whales.
So, what are the bestways to get around whales?
So one option is to hirea car and drive round.
(26:31):
I would say similar to in Scotland,a lot of our roads are quite small.
So if you're not so confident on countryroads, that might not be the best
option, especially if you want to goto some of the more rural destinations.
I recommend traveling by bus or train.
So public transport in Walescan be a bit patchy, I'll admit.
It can sometimes be, you know, notquite running to the perfect schedule.
(26:56):
So factor that into yourplans and itineraries.
But on the whole, you can travel to alot of the destinations I've mentioned
on public transport, and that meansthat you can enjoy the views as well.
So for example, if you travel by bus,from Kamar and to Aest with which are two
towns kind of near the coast where Aestwith is on the coast of Wales, you get
(27:17):
some nice coastal views along the way.
If you travel on a train, there's atrain line called The Heart of Wales,
and that's just a normal train line.
That's not one of theones I mentioned earlier.
That's kind of a specificroute or just for toys.
That's when you can travel onto get, further up or onwards
to Manchester for example.
(27:37):
And that's stunning.
It goes through a lot of beautifulcountryside and landscapes.
I recommend traveling by basal train runwhale, to be able to see the scenery.
The only thing that I'll mention isobviously you have to then choose
destinations that are connected.
the public transport network.
And if you want to go really off thebeaten track, it might be a bit more
(27:58):
of an adventure to go on, you know,smaller connecting buses or some places
aren't really on many routes, so youmight be a bit, well, you don't want
to be stranded, so you need a bit ofplanning if that is what you're gonna do.
But quite a few of the destinations I'vementioned, one of the reasons I recommend
them is because of their transport links.
(28:19):
So if someone was to plan a trip toWales and wanted to see the whole of
the country, I. How many days do youthink they would need to achieve that?
To go from south to North andsee everything in between?
so that's a hard one to say.
'cause I still have so manyplaces that I want to visit.
But in my seven dayitinerary that I've written.
I've put a good mix of goingto destinations in South Wales,
(28:42):
mid Wales and North Wales.
So that gives you a bit of a flavorof a few of the different areas.
It's a mix of cities,towns, national parks.
So I think in seven days you couldget a really good feel for Wales,
so you could visit fromand have a long weekend.
That's the other option.
So if you've not got so many days,but you want a flavor of Wales.
(29:04):
You could stay, say in Con WheelCardiff, or another destination
and stay for maybe three or fourdays and just focus on that area.
If people are flying into Wales, shouldthey fly in to the country or should
they fly into London and then get their,you know, via train or, or bus or car?
Cardiff does have aninternational airport.
(29:26):
So you could fly to Cardiff potentiallydepending on where you're coming from.
Most international flights will goto London, Birmingham or Manchester.
And from any of those cities,you can easily travel to Wales.
So you don't need to worry about,you know, if you can't fly here
directly, it's not a problem.
It's only two hours on the train fromCardiff to London, so it's really not far.
(29:48):
Oh, nice.
You can go across intoWales really easily.
So, and same with Birmingham.
So there's train connections andcoaches like National Express that
travel from a lot of major Englishcities to major well cities.
So, so that's the other thing I thinkpeople often don't quite know about
(30:09):
Wales is that it's not that far away.
Like obviously if you're going
Right.
the edge to, so St. David's is righton, you know, the very edge of a
little coastal region in Wales.
That's gonna takefurther, that's gonna take
Yeah.
get to, even for me from card, if thattakes, you know, a couple of hours.
But I used to go to London and back ina day for work and people would say, oh,
(30:31):
you've traveled from Wales this morningas if I've come from, you know, this
long lost land in the middle of nowhere.
It's like, yeah, it wasless than two hours.
Yeah.
commute within, you know, in England.
Do you have any other tips forpeople who are visiting whales?
My first tip is to consider the transportand checking how you're gonna get
(30:51):
somewhere and then how you'll travelwhen you're there really important.
My other tips are checking theweather forecast so that you
know, what might be coming up.
I think just think about what you wantto do when you're here and then looking
for a location stay that suits your needs
To wrap up, what is the ultimatereason that people should visit Wales?
(31:12):
So Wales is often an overlookedtourist destination, especially
by international tourists.
But although we're small,there's loads to see and there's
incredible nature and scenery.
Wales is rich with history andculture, and I think wherever you
go you'll find something that isan enjoyable holiday activity.
now, I really do wanna go to Wales.
(31:32):
It, it was never something that I'dconsidered that much in the past, until
I really started to see your articles.
And now that I've talked to youtoday, I really would love to
visit the next time I'm in the uk.
are very welcome to come.
I'll show you round
amazing.
Well thank you so muchRuthie, for being here today.
And again to all of our listeners, allthe articles that are relevant to this
(31:54):
episode will be linked in the show notes.
Make sure to check out RuthThese's articles after the
episode on travel lemming.com.
We've got over 1500 differentguides on the, the website.
So we've got a little somethingfor all your destinations.
If you like the episode, makesure to like and subscribe.
We're posting videos on Thursdays
so thank you again, Ruthie,for joining us today.
(32:15):
I hope you had a great timeon the Travel Living Podcast.
Thank you, as we'd say here.
I love it.
I love it.
I gotta a practice, the sounds.
And thank you all so much to ourlisteners for being here today.
We will see you next timeon the Travel Le Podcast.
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